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Hayabusa the Falcon
|appearance = Slender black falcon with yellow eyes |personality = Mysterious, loyal, ominous, protective, efficient, genocidal, steadfast, cowardly |occupation = Shan Yu's scout |alignment = Bad |affiliations = Shan Yu, Hun Army |enemies = Mushu, Cri-Kee, Fa Mulan, Li Shang, Yao, Ling, and Chien Po, The Emperor of China |powers = Flight |fate = Gets his feathers burned off by Mushu}}Hayabusa the Falcon is the secondary antagonist in Disney's 1998 animated feature film Mulan. A foreboding predator with a hatred for China, he is Shan Yu's loyal pet and an integral member of the Hun Army. Background Hayabusa is Shan Yu's pet falcon and sidekick. The bird often acts as a warning signal, alerting China's victims that Shan Yu is near. He appears to be similar to his master: strict, ruthless, and vicious. He latches onto his prey or whatever he needs to carry with his steely talons (as he did with Shan Yu's sword when Shang handed it to the Emperor). Though not as anthropomorphic as Cri-Kee or even Khan, Hayabusa has exhibited an understanding of his evil deeds—first when Shan Yu "congratulated" the Imperial scouts for finding the Hunn army, and again when Shan Yu and the surviving Huns emerged from the avalanche and began their pursuit of the Emperor. In both cases, Hayabusa was shown smiling wickedly. Appearances ''Mulan At the film's opening, Hayabusa is first seen soaring over the Great Wall of China, alerting the Chinese guards that Shan Yu is leading his army in an invasion of China. The falcon returns to his mater, who has allowed a guard to light a watchtower (leading to other watchtowers being lit). Hayabusa is next seen flying overhead after the Huns have torched a village. Later on, Hayabusa collects a doll from a Chinese village. By analyzing the doll, Shan Yu and his Elite Huns realize that the Imperial Army awaits them in a small village located in the quickest passageway to the Imperial City. The falcon later joins Shan Yu and the Huns during the snowy mountain battle. When Mulan prepares to launch a cannon into the side of a mountain to stop the advancing Huns, Hayabusa knocks her down, nearly stopping her from defeating the army of invaders. Hayabusa later escapes the avalanche caused by Mulan and searches the snow for his master. Once found, Hayabusa settles down on Shan Yu's shoulder and joins the other surviving Huns in their trip to the Imperial City. Amid the victory celebration where Li Shang attempts to present the sword of Shan Yu to the Emperor as proof of the Hun leader's death, Hayabusa snatches the sword in his talons and delivers it to Shan Yu, who is hiding in the shadows. During a plan created by Mulan to stop Shan Yu and save the Emperor, Hayabusa attempts to alert the Elite Huns of the impending rescue mission. However, before the falcon can alert them of Li Shang's presence, Mushu breathes fire on the falcon, burning off his feathers. The now-naked falcon is then briefly seen as a mode of transportation for Mushu. Hayabusa's fate afterwards remains unknown. Live-action appearances [[Mulan (2020 film)|''Mulan (2020)]] In the Niki Caro remake, Hayabusa will be transferred to a female version with a human form named Xian Lang (portrayed by Gong Li), a powerful witch who has the ability to shapeshift into a falcon and fights alongside Bori Khan in his goal to invade China. Video games ''Kingdom Hearts II Hayabusa is a minor character that lives in The Land of Dragons World. Like the film, he is Shan Yu's falcon and warning signal. During the boss battle with Shan Yu, the falcon is battled as well, constantly attacking Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Mulan. Gallery Trivia *Hayabusa is the third bird sidekick to a Disney villain, the first being Diablo, and the second being Iago, but unlike the ones before him, he is a bird of prey rather than a raven or a parrot. Though technically all three are within a bird clade known as Australaves. *The name "Hayabusa" means "Peregrine Falcon" in Japanese, though he is said to be more of a saker falcon since he lacks the black tip on his beak Peregrines have. *Owning and training a pet falcon has been and still is a very common past time among many Central Asian nomads in Mongolia and Kazakhstan. * A deleted scene would have shown that Shan Yu was capable of seeing through Hayabusa's eyes. * He is never called by name in the movie. *Xian Lang's name means to "Fairy Wolf" in Chinese. *Xian Lang's actress Gong Li has compared the character to Báigǔjīng (translated as White Bone Spirit), a shapeshifting demoness from the classic Chinese novel, Journey to the West. *The name Xian Lang may be a reference to Dou Xianniang, another female warrior who became Mulan's laotong in the 17th century Chinese novel ''Sui Tang Romance. References Category:Henchmen Category:Pets Category:Villains Category:Mulan characters Category:Kingdom Hearts characters Category:Males Category:Characters in video games Category:Falcons Category:Silent characters Category:Adults Category:Animated characters Category:Disney characters Category:Characters in the Disney animated features canon Category:Disney Crossy Road characters Category:Characters who fly Category:Disney Villains Category:Live-action characters Category:Live-action villains